91Ƶ

Skip to content

VIDEO: Coulson says he91Ƶs heard 91Ƶnothing yet91Ƶ on Hawaii Mars offer

The waterbomber could be available to fight wildfires by early August
7642219_web1_170710-BPD-M-Hawaii-Mars
The Hawaii Mars at its base in central Vancouver Island (Katya Slepian/Black Press)

The Hawaii Mars waterbomber may be up in the air this wildfire season after all.

Speaking on Monday morning, Coulson Group CEO Wayne Coulson said that the company had offered up all of its firefighting apparatus to the B.C. government.

91ƵWe91Ƶve heard nothing as of yet,91Ƶ said Coulson.

91ƵNothing has evolved from our office with the province.91Ƶ

The Hawaii Mars has not flown in a B.C. firefighting mission since the summer of 2015.

RELATED:

Coulson remains hopeful that a new government coming into Victoria will change the way that forestry firefighting contracts are done.

91ƵI hope that the [with] new government it will be a fair process,91Ƶ he said, noting that 91Ƶin our opinion, there91Ƶs been no question.91Ƶ

It91Ƶs not only the Hawaii Mars up for grabs this firefighting seaon

91ƵWe have offered two Sikorsky S-61 heavy-lift helicopters, each with a 4000 litre capacity and one S-76 command and control helicopter that was in Australia this Spring and is approved to fight fire at night with our Night Vision Goggle capability,91Ƶ Coulson said. He noted that the company is the only commercial operator approved for nighttime firefighting in B.C.

RELATED:

The Hawaii Mars is currently undergoing maintenance and won91Ƶt be available until early August.

91ƵWe bumped it on the bottom of the lake and we91Ƶre still finalizing that repair,91Ƶ said Coulson. 91ƵIf government was interested or needed support, or God forbid there was a fire and [the Hawaii Mars] was the best tool to put it out, we would make it available.91Ƶ

LISTEN: Wayne Coulson talks on what he sees as unfair firefighting contracts:


katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

Like us on and follow us on .





(or

91Ƶ

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }